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07/03/25
US steelmakers urge no 232 tariff exclusions
US steelmakers urge no 232 tariff exclusions
Houston, 7 March (Argus) — Top leaders of US steelmakers urged President Donald
Trump to resist requests to exclude or exempt steel imports from upcoming 25pc
Section 232 tariffs. The chief executives of Cleveland-Cliffs, CMC, Metallus,
North American Stainless, Nucor, Tenaris, US Steel, and Zekelman Industries and
the treasurer of Steel Dynamics signed the letter sent to Trump on Friday. Trump
is set to put the 25pc Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs into effect on 12
March, removing all tariff rate quota (TRQ) and nontariffed agreements. In the
letter, the leaders said the original 25pc national security 232 tariffs
implemented in March 2018 led to steel imports dropping "significantly," and
allowed for over $20bn in upgrades and new mills. Utilization rates were also
said to have increased. US steelmakers have both shuttered facilities and added
millions of tons of production since 2018, with closures mainly from older, iron
ore-based blast furnaces while new and upgraded scrap-based electric arc furnace
(EAF) mills have added capacity. In the letter, the steelmakers added that steel
tariff exemptions since 2018 allowed for higher import volumes, "even for
products readily available from domestic suppliers." US steel import volumes
fell in 2018 and 2019 and were 9.14mn metric tonnes (t) lower in 2019 than in
2017, the year before tariffs were imposed. They fell by another 5.3mn t in
2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic led to broad shutdowns in the US and global
economies. Imports have oscillated wildly since then, up by 9.57mn t in 2021,
before falling year over year in 2022 and 2023. Imports were up by 641,600t in
2024 from the prior year. By Rye Druzchetta US steel product imports t Year
Imports YoY Change (t) Change (%) 2017 34,472,508 na na 2018 30,573,530
-3,898,978 -11.3% 2019 25,332,481 -5,241,049 -17.1% 2020 20,032,166 -5,300,315
-20.9% 2021 29,601,055 9,568,889 47.8% 2022 28,076,057 -1,524,998 -5.2% 2023
25,583,086 -2,492,971 -8.9% 2024 26,224,660 641,574 2.5% US Department of
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